Lawsuit over failed bulkhead at port to be settled

FOURCHON -- The Greater Lafourche Port Commission has agreed to settle lawsuits with an offshore drilling company and an engineering firm over a failed bulkhead at Port Fourchon.

"Iím very pleased we were able to work this out without going to court," said Ted Falgout, outgoing port director. "We saved everybody but the lawyers a bunch of money."

Falgout said the commission decided to settle with Rowan Companies-Rowan Marine June 26 and with engineering firm J. Wayne Plaisance Friday.

Commission lawyer Bryce Autin said the exact terms of the agreements would not be finalized or released to the public until later this week.

A bulkhead, which in this case is made of steel sheets, holds an embankment in place and allows a boat to dock.

The lawsuit stemmed from a bulkhead at Port Fourchon that "deflected" in three places, making it look like appear that the land had pushed it forward. The problem was discovered in January 2004, Autin said.

Rowan Companies was leasing the bulkhead from the port and said the deflections made the bulkhead unsafe. Rowan sued the commission in January 2005, claiming the problems occurred because the commission didnít repair or maintain the properly.

Rowan argued that the commission, along with J. Wayne Plaisance Inc., Eustis Engineering and Continental Construction, which designed and built the site, and Vulcan Construction Materials and Core Industries, which allegedly unloaded more limestone onto the site than it could handle, were all liable for the business Rowan lost because the bulkhead was unusable.

In turn, "everybody turned around and pointed the finger at each other," Autin said. "Everybody was suing everybody" to protect their own interests.

The port commissionís counter claim argued Rowan is liable for the damage because it happened "while the leased premises was under the exclusive custody and control of Rowan."

The commission also sued J. Wayne Plaisance, who Autin said admitted to engineering flaws in the design.

While the commission has settled with Rowan and Plaisance and Eustis has been removed from the lawsuit by all parties, Autin did not rule out further legal action against other parties.

A call seeking comment from Rowanís legal department was not returned.

David Jacobs can be reached at 448-7639, or by e-mail at david.jacobs@dailycomet.com.

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